Mehdi Abdolzadeh, Seyed Rahim Hosseini, Iraj Rasa
et al.
Abstract Understanding strain rates in naturally deformed rocks is crucial for reconstructing the tectonic history of orogenic belts. This study focuses on the Chahzar Thrust Zone, located within the Sanandaj-Sirjan metamorphic zone of southwestern Iran, an ideal setting for investigating deformation dynamics through microstructural analysis. We employ fractal analysis of quartz grain boundaries to estimate strain rates and assess deformation conditions. Although quartz microstructures such as bulging (250–400 °C), subgrain rotation (400–500 °C), and grain boundary migration (500–750 °C) have been historically linked to specific temperature ranges, recent studies emphasize that these features are also strongly influenced by strain rate, fluid content, and other variables (Law, 2014). In this context, we apply the box-counting method to quantify the fractal dimension (D) of recrystallized quartz grains, using it as a semi-quantitative proxy for combined deformation conditions. Our results yield estimated strain rates ranging from 10⁻1⁰.⁹ s⁻1 to 10⁻⁶.⁸ s⁻1, which are notably higher than previously reported typical natural strain rates (10⁻12–10⁻15 s⁻1). These findings suggest a deformation regime with episodic or localized strain intensification, contributing to a better understanding of strain accommodation in mid-crustal rocks and offering insights into tectonic processes in similar orogenic systems worldwide.
Large Language Models (LLMs) represent a promising frontier for recommender systems, yet their development has been impeded by the absence of predictable scaling laws, which are crucial for guiding research and optimizing resource allocation. We hypothesize that this may be attributed to the inherent noise, bias, and incompleteness of raw user interaction data in prior continual pre-training (CPT) efforts. This paper introduces a novel, layered framework for generating high-quality synthetic data that circumvents such issues by creating a curated, pedagogical curriculum for the LLM. We provide powerful, direct evidence for the utility of our curriculum by showing that standard sequential models trained on our principled synthetic data significantly outperform ($+130\%$ on recall@100 for SasRec) models trained on real data in downstream ranking tasks, demonstrating its superiority for learning generalizable user preference patterns. Building on this, we empirically demonstrate, for the first time, robust power-law scaling for an LLM that is continually pre-trained on our high-quality, recommendation-specific data. Our experiments reveal consistent and predictable perplexity reduction across multiple synthetic data modalities. These findings establish a foundational methodology for reliable scaling LLM capabilities in the recommendation domain, thereby shifting the research focus from mitigating data deficiencies to leveraging high-quality, structured information.
This book explains how Roman law worked for those who lived by it, by viewing it in the light of the society and economy in which it operated. Written in an accessible style with the minimum of legal technicality, the book is designed for students and teachers of Roman history as well as interested general readers. Topics covered include the family and inheritance, property and the use of land, business and commercial transactions, and litigation. In this second edition, all chapters have been extensively revised and updated, and a new chapter on crime and punishment has been included. The book ends with an epilogue covering the fate of Roman law in medieval and modern Europe. David Johnston is a lawyer practising in the courts and draws on his experience of law in practice to shape the work and provide new insights for his readers.
Leonardo Iurada, Simone Bombari, Tatiana Tommasi
et al.
Large-scale deep learning models are known to memorize parts of the training set. In machine learning theory, memorization is often framed as interpolation or label fitting, and classical results show that this can be achieved when the number of parameters $p$ in the model is larger than the number of training samples $n$. In this work, we consider memorization from the perspective of data reconstruction, demonstrating that this can be achieved when $p$ is larger than $dn$, where $d$ is the dimensionality of the data. More specifically, we show that, in the random features model, when $p \gg dn$, the subspace spanned by the training samples in feature space gives sufficient information to identify the individual samples in input space. Our analysis suggests an optimization method to reconstruct the dataset from the model parameters, and we demonstrate that this method performs well on various architectures (random features, two-layer fully-connected and deep residual networks). Our results reveal a law of data reconstruction, according to which the entire training dataset can be recovered as $p$ exceeds the threshold $dn$.
The effectiveness of Large Language Models (LLMs) in legal reasoning is often limited due to the unique legal terminologies and the necessity for highly specialized knowledge. These limitations highlight the need for high-quality data tailored for complex legal reasoning tasks. This paper introduces LegalSemi, a benchmark specifically curated for legal scenario analysis. LegalSemi comprises 54 legal scenarios, each rigorously annotated by legal experts, based on the comprehensive IRAC (Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion) framework from Malaysian Contract Law. In addition, LegalSemi is accompanied by a structured knowledge base (SKE). A series of experiments were conducted to assess the usefulness of LegalSemi for IRAC analysis. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of incorporating the SKE for issue identification, rule retrieval, application and conclusion generation using four different LLMs.
The paper considers the technology of computer reconstruction of a lost unique historical architectural defensive complex, implemented using various sources in their content reflecting only fragmentary background information on the problem under study. In this case, the authors verified the excavations contained in the schemes of topographic plans of archaeological expeditions of different periods, which are presented in detail on the created synthetic topographic plan. I.e. the architectural objects discovered during various expeditions were systematically arranged in accordance with the reference to modern topographic data. Such detailed excavation of various fortress buildings, as well as a detailed study of their architectural analogues, allow us to identify linear parameters objectively necessary for their three-dimensional computer modeling. In other words, the authors have taken an integrated approach in reproducing the unique appearance of the fortification, which maximally corresponds to the basic concept of construction and the requirements for military fortifications of the period under study. The uniqueness of this work lies in the fact that the use of modern information technologies acts as a tool, which allow not only to restore the lost appearance of the first military-administrative center of the Amur region, but also to promote promising research on the history of the development of the Russian Far East.
Archaeology, Law in general. Comparative and uniform law. Jurisprudence
The article deals with the foreign course of President Joe Biden’s administration in regard to making an anti-iranian coalition in the Middle East. Due to a plethora of intra and extra factors, this particular deal has become crucial. The significance is defined by analyzing one of the most important aspects of American foreign policy in the Middle East for the last short period of time. Its realization will help not only oppose Iranian expansionism in the region but also stand against a possible alliance of two dictators regimes – Putin’s and Ayatollahs’ – in the Russian-Ukrainian war, and in the future could lead to serious danger for all regional security system in the Middle East.
The aim of the article is to systematic investigation of the US’ foreign strategy to create an anti-Iranian alliance in the Middle East, mentioning new features, that occur from late 2022 and the beginning of 2023. The article shows the importance of the anti-Iranian alliance as one of the pivotal fronts of war between the global democratic team led by the US and the global dictators’ bunch, which can possibly doom the future of humanity.
Methods include a broad mix of general scientific and narrow methods like systemic method, comparative analysis, sources’ critic analysis.
The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that the author is first in Ukrainian historiography, who tried to investigate the ongoing process of reforming the political and security situation in the Middle East and made a complex analysis of one of the top priority foreign policy themes, conducted by President Joe Biden’s administration in the Middle East, with inventing into research agenda new American, Israel and Arab sources. New reasons and facets in the Middle Eastern geopolitical situation are highlighted, which indicate the cruciality of the research problem. The author draws a conclusion about the correlation of processes in the Middle East and Ukraine, in particular, that the policy of J. Biden’s administration in the specified direction allows more effective resistance to Russian aggression in Ukraine.
The article deals with the views of the leader of the “centre-left” François-Denis Tronchet on the interference of the legislative and executive branches of power in the political system of revolutionary France and the place of the king in it. One of the important problems facing the deputies of the National Constituent Assembly was to change the form of government that existed under the Old Regime, in which all power was in the same hands. The position of Tronchet, who thought in the spirit of the liberal majority for the abolition of absolutism and the subordination of the monarch to the law, at the same time, differed from the supporters of the influential royal power of Mirabeau, Lafayette, Le Chapelier, and from the adherents of the powerful parliament of Barnave, Duport, Alexander and Charles Lameth. Unlike the moderate deputies of the Assembly and the “left”, the representative of the “centre-left” expressed balanced judgments about the parity cooperation between the branches of power insisting on the significant role of the head of the executive branch. The Varennes crisis changed the views of many politicians. Tronchet was one of the main heralds of the liberal majority, who consolidated their intention to strengthen the executive branch of power in the person of the king and his agents, to complete the Constitution, to stabilize the situation in the country, to prevent the further radicalization of the revolution and the spread of republican mentality.
Archaeology, Law in general. Comparative and uniform law. Jurisprudence
Alexandra Hotca, Julie R. Bloom, Juliana Runnels
et al.
Since 2014, American states have had the option to expand their Medicaid programs as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which was signed into law by former President Barack H. Obama in 2010. Emerging research has found that Medicaid expansion has had a significant impact on patients with cancer, who often face significant financial barriers to receiving the care they need. In this review, we aim to provide a comprehensive examination of the research conducted thus far on the impact of Medicaid expansion on patients with cancer. We begin with a discussion of the history of Medicaid expansion and the key features of the ACA that facilitated it. We then review the literature, analyzing studies that have investigated the impact of Medicaid expansion on cancer patients in terms of access to care, quality of care, and health outcomes. Our findings suggest that Medicaid expansion has had a positive impact on patients with cancer in a number of ways. Patients in expansion states are more likely to receive timely cancer screening and diagnoses, and are more likely to receive appropriate cancer-directed treatment. Additionally, Medicaid expansion has been associated with improvements in cancer-related health outcomes, including improved survival rates. However, limitations and gaps in the current research on the impact of Medicaid expansion on patients with cancer exist, including a lack of long-term data on health outcomes. Additionally, further research is needed to better understand the mechanisms through which Medicaid expansion impacts cancer care.
Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens
Considering that international human rights standards set by the decisions of the European court of human rights at present are an integral part of the legal system of the Russian Federation, the article analyzes some of the issues of judicial protection of property used in the practice of the European Court of human rights.
Law, History of scholarship and learning. The humanities
The article deals with the problem of deciphering the code of a literary text, as one of the most pressing problems of modern linguistics. The article explores the work of the French writer Octave Mirbeau "Letters from my hut" in terms of the presence in it of the code of Alfons Daudet, the author of the cycle of stories "Letters from my mill". Octave Mirbeau is an active and influential participant in the historical events of France of the late 18th - early 19th century. His pen was ruthless, however, the dark sides of reality, through the comic code, he described so that they often became attractive. The article analyzes the implementation of the Alphonse Daudet code in Octave Mirbeau text space, allowing to prove the intertextual connection between their works. Attention is drawn to that Octave Mirbeau uses a comic code, as a technique for creating a common communicative ield, between the collection of stories "Letters from my hut" and the work of Alphonse Daudet "Letters from my mill". The paper proves that the intertextual connection between the designated works is carried out by a comic code, as a way of reproducing a precedent text, by creating caricature images. It is noted that the code sets a certain connotation to the text and its individual parts, imposes a value that can not be decrypted by the recipient who does not own a certain cultural code. The article touches upon the specifics of the Octawa Mirbeau ideology, which was influenced by various literary schools, works of other writers, important historical and social events, which explains the diversity of forms, genres and stylistic techniques used by them. The comic code is considered through the disagreement that existed between Alphonse Daudet and Octave Mirbeau in life, which is undoubtedly relected in the works. It is proved that Octave Mirbo coded his stories primarily at the comic level, creating literary caricatures similar to the cartoons of Alphonse Daudet. All translations are made by the authors of the article.
Law, History of scholarship and learning. The humanities
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) is a research activity that started in the late 1950s, predating the arrival of "Big History" and "Astrobiology" by several decades. Many elements first developed as part of the original SETI narrative are now incorporated in both of these emergent fields. However, SETI still offers the widest possible perspective, since the topic naturally leads us to consider not only the future development of our own society but also the forward trajectories (and past histories) of many other intelligent extraterrestrial forms. In this paper, I present a provocative view of Big History, its rapid convergent focus on our own planet and society, its oversimplified and incomplete view of events in cosmic history, and its limited appreciation of how poorly we understand some aspects of the physical world. Astrophysicists are also not spared - in particular those who wish to understand the nature of the universe in "splendid isolation", only looking outwards and upwards. SETI can help re-expand all of our horizons but the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence may also require its own practitioners to abandon preconceptions of what constitutes intelligent, sentient, thinking minds.